Robert Guillaume

Robert Guillaume became one of the best-beloved and respected television actors of the late 1970s and 1980s playing one character in two different series and establishing a trademark capacity to rende...
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Appeared in Broadway musicals "Porgy and Bess," "Kwamina," "Purlie" and as Nathan Detroit in black revival of "Guys and Dolls"; earned 1977 Tony nomination as Lead Actor in a Musical for the latter

Stage debut as Billy Bigelow in regional production of "Carousel"

While in college, won a scholarship to a musical festival in Aspen, CO

Reprised Rafiki on the animated TV spin-off "Timon & Pumbaa" (CBS)

Raised by his maternal grandmother in St Louis, MO

Starred in ABC sitcom "The Robert Guillaume Show"; also executive produced

Acted in Tim Burton's fantasy drama "Big Fish"

Served in the U.S. Army

Starred as title character in TV series, "Benson", a spin-off of "Soap"

Formed Guillaume/Margo Productions

Co-starred in the Las Vegas-set feature "Satin"

Co-starred in the feature "Lean on Me"

Co-starred in the ABC series "Sports Night"

Voiced the character of Rafiki in the animated Disney blockbuster "The Lion King"

Co-starred with Gary Coleman in the TV-movies "The Kid from Left Field" (1979), "The Kid with the Broken Halo" (1982) and "The Kid with the 200 I.Q." (1983;) also executive produced the latter

Off-Broadway debut, "Fly Blackbird" (date approximate)

Feature film debut, "Superfly TNT"

Replaced Michael Crawford as "The Phantom of the Opera" in Los Angeles production of the hit musical; first black actor to play the role

Had roles in "First Kid" and "Spy Hard"

Featured in the documentary "TV in Black: The First Fifty Years"

Played Benson on the ABC sitcom "Soap"

Made his directorial debut in the ABC TV-movie "John Grin's Christmas"; also produced and starred in

Played title character in TV adaptation of Broadway musical "Purlie"

Made pilot for "Metropolitan Hospital" (Fox)

Cast in a supporting role opposite Amy Smart and Selma Blair in the thriller "Columbus Circle"

Summary

Robert Guillaume became one of the best-beloved and respected television actors of the late 1970s and 1980s playing one character in two different series and establishing a trademark capacity to render bone-dry wit, stoic demeanor and even thoughtful compassion. An accomplished Broadway performer and singer through the 1960s and '70s, Guillaume came to national prominence on the groundbreaking and controversial sitcom "Soap" (ABC, 1977-1981) as Benson, the domestic servant with anything but a servile attitude or respect for his upper class employers. Benson proved such a breakthrough character that in 1979, ABC spun Guillaume off into his own eponymous series, in which he eventually, improbably, ran for the office of governor of a Southern state. Nominated seven times, he would become the first African-American to win a Best Actor Emmy. He went on to establish himself as a go-to voiceover actor with extensive work in Disney's much-traveled "Lion King" franchise. His most extended return to series TV, "Sports Night" (ABC, 1998-2000), went conspicuously marked by a stroke he suffered on-set and the producers' and Guillaume's decision to write it and the subsequent recovery process into his character's arc. Though more broadly remembered for his signature sitcom work, Guillaume built a legacy as a multi-gifted performer who defied the traditional parameters too long drawn for African-American thespians.

Born c. 1957; mother, Marlene Williams; Died on Dec. 23, 1990 of complications from AIDS

Education

Name

St Louis University

Washington University

Karamu Theatre

Notes

In 1990, Guillaume replaced Michael Crawford in the title role of "The Phantom of the Opera" in Los Angeles, becoming the first African American performer in the role.

"If I had to identify what made me successful, I'd say it was a firmly grounded early education which made me unafraid of the English language. The ability to articulate effectively what I wanted to say and felt has served me more than anything else in this business." – Guillaume quoted in "Death Warrant" (1990) publicity material

"I don't think I've had that much of a variety, that opportunity to play a wide range of people. If you're black and you try to play a character that has not been seen, a philosophy professor, say, or has been on the horizon in film, theater and television, you always run up against people who don't understand. People who have a much more limited idea of what African Americans are. We occupy a wide, wide spectrum of the territory we call the American dream. In the media it's a tiny little area." – Guillaume in Daily News, Sept. 11, 1991

On Jan. 14, 1999, Guillaume suffered a mild stroke in his dressing room on the set of "Sports Night" (ABC).